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In a reading rut?

SFG75

SFG75

Well-Known Member
Anyone in a reading rut? how long do they typically last for you? I tend to start and then stop a couple of times with different works before I find myself back on a good pace. I don't know, perhaps a break is needed between works?:confused:
 
I was doing okay for this year, read over thirty between January and March but when April hit I read nothing until halfway through May.
 
I've read 6 novels in teh last 3 weeks but now I'm starting to get lazy on my latest book....:rolleyes:
 
A little trick I sometimes do is when I'm bored either tell myself or have a friend read a book with me for only an hour and after that discuss it. Theres rarely ever much to discuss but if it's a good book I definately get involved in it during that time and will finish it.

Also try not to read back-to-back lengthy books. For me anyway, I can't handle reading two in-depth character-driven brilliant novels back to back, so I have to add a skinny book inbetween.

With all my tricks though, I still barely read two books a month when my schedule is busy, so don't feel too bad. It's all a matter of picking your time to read and sticking to it everyday. eventually you wont be able to break the habit.
 
In times like this, I pull our a few back issues of Pages or Bookmark magazines. Thumbing throught them usually inpspires me. Riffling through the archives here at TBF help a lot as well.
 
I haven't finished anything in over a month. I've started four books and I'm still reading all of them, just very slowly. So, I think I'm in a rut.
 
Yeah, I occassionally find myself in a rut too, usually because I can't find anything to read that interests me. There are times when I'm just not in the mood to read, or just too burnt out. I tend to get over it within a couple of weeks. I pacify myself with Time and Newsweek until I get over it.
 
My reading ruts, or book slumps, usually last a couple of weeks. The only thing to do, I find, is (after a break, or reading "trash" or non sequiturs) to find the right book to break the slump. Unfortunately, it is totally unpredictable just which is the right book... :eek: But in every slump I hope that reading is like riding a bicycle, and so far, that's turned out to be true. You just have to stumble on the right bike! ;)

*mrkgnao*
 
I read parts of books when I'm not thrilled about reading. When I really tie into a book I'll stick with it pretty intensely until I am finished - over maybe a long weekend. Other times I'll browse the bookstore(s) looking for the right book to strike. And if something looks appealing I'll buy it even though I have partly finished books waiting at home. So I start quite a few books and read them for a chapter or so. If they don't click by then, they go on my To Be Finished pile, which almost needless to say has quite a few books in it. It might seem logical to finish one book before buying the next book to read, and to only buy one book at a time, but somehow it doesn't work like that for me. It's too much fun buying them in bunches of 2 or 3, because the new additions bring so much hope along with them. So, I'm a bookaholic. :rolleyes:
Peder
 
Reading ruts mirror pyschological ruts for me. March was shitty. The end of April too. Took me six weeks to get through Great Expectations. The rut mostly passed and the passion for reading mostly returned. Since then I've read a decent handful.

When you don't feel like doing something it's up to you to decide whether you need to force yourself through until you feel better or if taking a break is the only way you'll regain your desire.
 
my last one lasted probably a good four months, I just get so wrapped up with work and such I basically forget to read. Though in the last week I've read 5 books (yay for vacation) so this one seems to be over.
 
I haven't encountered one as of yet, but it seems that I should expect one in the future. My problem at the moment is that I am being bogged down by schoolwork and have no time for reading - I've been on my current book for over a week now :(
 
I've been reading a lot lately but have definitely been in reading ruts before. Sometimes they can last for months and it's usually picking up just the right book at the just right time that launches me out of them.
 
I'm in a rut right now, I can't find anything I want to read that will hold my attention. I wonder if it's the weather? It's getting nicer out and there are more things to do, but I still wish I had something to read, but on the other hand I don't feel like reading. Is this a disease? and what's the cure? :(
 
Miss Shelf said:
I'm in a rut right now, I can't find anything I want to read that will hold my attention.
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That's what has happened with me. I started a Stephen King book and then just.......yeah. I then started to read a histoircal fiction work, but then......yeah. I'm now reading Main Street by Sinclair Lewis-so far so good, now to stay out of the rut.;)
 
Miss Shelf said:
I'm in a rut right now, I can't find anything I want to read that will hold my attention. I wonder if it's the weather? It's getting nicer out and there are more things to do, but I still wish I had something to read, but on the other hand I don't feel like reading. Is this a disease? and what's the cure? :(
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God I hope not, you may have caught it from me a few months ago. I do have one suggestion. Pick a book that's completely out of your normal MO. For example, non-fiction, SciFi, trashy paperback, mystery- thriller. Whatever is foreign to you. Just be sure to pick an author with some skill. This newness of genre usually gets me back on track. Get Well Soon!
 
I've just come out of a rut that lasted for about three weeks. I think it was basically caused by the books I was reading as I'm otherwise reading alot right now. When in a rut, what works for me is just to push through, because if I stop reading a book and pick up a new one chances are god that I'll just keep doing that as soon as I hit a bump in the road and then I'll never finish anything ever again :eek: :eek: ;) If I'm in between books I would probably read a short story instead of Ben Hur though...;)
 
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